The Science Hour podcast: 2 June 2013

On this week’s episode of The Science Hour, we discussed space, brain tumours, the genetics of intelligence and communication!

Sila described the asteroid that flew by on Saturday, and Charles continued the space talk with some insight into the radiation on Mars.We had special guest PhD researcher Dr. Andy in the studio talking about his research in brain tumours. A specific type of tumour called a pituitary tumour can sometimes affect vision, and he is working on some programs to predict outcomes for these patients that need surgery.

Charles then spoke about an article that claimed intelligence, or educational attainment, is determined by your genes. This method had a staggering 0.02% rate of predicting intelligence from your genes (can you notice the sarcasm?). We pulled apart these claims and ended up with the age-old question of nature vs. nurture, where all three of us agreed that your environment and upbringing play a bigger role in your intelligence than genes!